Pressure bottle filling apparatus



July 12, 1966 J. A. GROVES 3,260,286

PRESSURE BOTTLE FILLING AIPARATUS Filed Feb. 8, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

JOHN A. GROVES flaw, 777 m H/S ATTORNEYS LEI/7L5. L

July 12, 1966 J. A. GROVES 3,260,286

PRESSURE BOTTLE FILLING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 5, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5 INVENTOR.

JOHN A. GROVES m WY WQ H/S A TTORNE Y5 United States Patent PRESSURE BOTTLE FILLING APPARATUS John A. Groves, Rochester, Pa., assignor to Adams Brothers Manufacturing Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Feb. 3, 1964, Ser. No. 342,018 12 Claims. (Cl. 141-21) This invention relates to apparatus for filling pressure vessels. More specifically, this invention relates to a semi-automatic device for refilling portable pressure bottles from bulk containers.

Many portable fuel burning appliances are presently available to the public. A large percentage, of these appliances employ small portable pressure bottles of inexpensive fuel such as propane. Also, portable pressure bottles have been used for field use of chemicals other than fuel. For some time it has been desired to make these pressure bottles economically refillable. The labor cost of a refilling operation has thus far severely limited the commercial interest in the service of refilling pressure bottles. For this reason it is difficult for a refilling service to presently compete with disposable pressure bottles. The result is an unnecessarily high cost of operation for the portable fuel burning appliances. The desirability of an economical pressure bottle refilling service has been recognized by the art, as evidenced by the fact that refillable pressure bottles are presently available from several suppliers. It is apparent, however, that the economic problems have not been solved, since, at present, it is difficult to locate outlets where such bottles can be refilled.

If the business of refilling pressurized fuel bottles is to be attractive to service stations, sporting goods stores, and similar logical retail outlets, it must be reduced to a safe, quick, and foolproof operation.

Accordingly, it has been an object of my invention to fully investigate the technical and economic problems of refilling portable pressure bottles by retailed distributors on a profitable commercial basis;

Another object of my invention has been to devise an inexpensive and compact pressure filling device for use in refilling pressure bottles;

Another important object of my invention has been to devise portable bottle pressure filling apparatus that can be operated quickly and efficiently with a minimum number of independent operations;

A further object of my invention has been to devise a filling head that will dispense fuel only when a pressure bottle is in place to be filled.

These and other objects of my invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following explanation of the novel concepts of my invention, the description of a specific preferred embodiment thereof, and the appended claims.

One phase or novel concept of this invention relates to the use of a pressure filling stand having a manually movable filling head that is adjustably positionable to be brought into operative engagement with pressure bottles of various heights. I have found it to be desirable for the filling head to be moved quickly into and out of tight engagement with the pressure bottle to avoid seepage and leaking as may occur when the various valves are held in intermediate positions. Accordingly, this invention employs a spring loaded, lever operated carriage that provides ample force and movement to make and break all connections quickly. The lever of this invention is pivotally mounted upon the carriage which is guided by a rectilinear track so as to insure rectilinear movement of the carriage at all times. The spring loading of the carriage actuation urges the carriage to open non-filling position, such that filling the flow of fuel can be terminated simply by release of the operating lever.

Another important phase of this invention relates to the construction of the filling head which makes the device safe, simple and quick to use and virtually foolproof. Refillable gas bottles have a main flow passageway containing a bicycle type valve positioned therein. Around the region of the valve is a threaded flow-line fitting which is normally connected with an appliance that uses fuel from the bottle, or a refill fitting for supplying fuel into the bottle. This invention does not employ the threaded fitting as such but merely uses the position of the fitting within the filling head as an indication that bottle is in proper position to receive a charge of fuel. For this purpose the filler head is provided with a supply valve actuating mechanism that is only operative when the upper lip of the pressure bottle fully-symmetrically engages a ring-shaped feeler member that is concentric with the bottle valve. This construction prevents improper ejection of fuel caused by improper positioning of the pressure bottle or by accidental or unintelligent use of the filling device.

These phases or novel concepts of my invention will be more clearly understood in the light of the following description of a specific preferred embodiment of my invention, wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of filling apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a cross sectional view of the filling apparatus of FIGURE 1 taken along line II-II thereof; and

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the filling head shown in the apparatus of FIGURE 1.

In FIGURE 1 there is shown a semi-automatic pressure filling device F constructed in accordance with this invention. It will be understood that the concept of this invention can be applied to pressure bottles having various valve constructions. However, for purposes of illustration there is shown a portable bottle B of the type used for propane, and having a standard self-contained normally closed, force activated bicycle type valve B that is mounted centrally of an outwardly extending, threaded flow-line fitting B The filling device F has a heavy base 11 that includes .an upstanding frame 12 which supports a movable charging or filling head H. The base 11 further has a cavity or circular indentation 13 for generally locating the pressure bottle B thereon.

In the specific embodiment shown, there is provided means 20 for moving the filling head H relative to the bottle B to bring these parts into operative fluid engagement. The moving means 20 includes a carriage member 21 having a flanged guide part 22 that is mounted for rectilinear movement in a track portion 14 of the frame 12 as more clearly appears from FIGURE 2. The carriage member 21 supports the filling head H in a generally aligned relationship with the indentation 13.

The carriage member 21 is normally held in an upward position by a compression spring 15 that is carried within a groove portion 16 of the frame 12 and is operatively engaged by a stationary abutment 17 on the frame 12 and a moving abutment 23 that is securely connected to the carriage member 21. Downward movement of the carriage member 21 is caused by a manual lever 24 that is pivotally connected to the carriage member by a bracket and pin 25 adjacent an intermediate portion of the lever. The lever 24 is anchored vertically by a swing linkage 26 that is connected by respective pivotal connections 27 and 28 to the frame 12 and the lever 24. The swing linkage 26 moves only slightly (as shown by the broken lines) to compensate for the arc defined by the lever 24 as it pivots about its laterally fixed axis defined by the bracket and pin 25.

The filling head H is more clearly shown in the blown up or enlarged view of FIGURE 3. This head includes a casing 46 that is bored to form a valve chamber 41, an actuation chamber 42, a bottle fitting chamber or bore 43 that provides a protective side wall or shield 44, and a casing inlet 45. In addition, the casing 46 is provided with a threaded bore 46 for receiving the upper end of an elongated hollow spout, filling stem or pintle 51 and an upper threaded bore for receiving a valve chamber sealing nut or plug 52. The pintle 51 defines an elongated bore or flow passageway 51a that terminates at its lower or downstream end in a How restriction provided by a plurality of small orifices 51b. The restriction insures that liquid within the filling apparatus will be under positive pressure at all times.

The upper end of the casing 46 includes a cap 47 that is securely connected to the carriage member by a mounting bolt 29. The cap 47 is threadably secured to the easing 40 so as to permit easy disassembly of the filling head H for maintenance and repair. A nipple or other similar fitting 53 is mounted in the inlet fiow passageway 45 and cooperatively receives a connecting hose or tube T from a storage tank or bulk source supply material, not shown.

Within the valve chamber 41 there is shown means 60 for selectively interrupting the flow path defined by the tube T, the casing inlet 45, and the valve chamber 41 which otherwise would be fluidly connected to the flow passageway 51a within the pintle 51. The interrupting means 60 comprises a valve member 61 having a valve insert or plug 62 that is preferably made of a suitable soft material such as nylon. A valve stem or actuating linkage 65 extends upwardly from the valve body 61 and through a small bore in the sealing nut 52. so as to guide the valve body in rectilinear vertical motion. The upper end of the sealing nut 52 is provided with an upwardly tapered bearing portion or rest 521). An O-ring 54 is held within an offset indentation or counter-bore 48 in the sealing nut 52 by a washer or split ring 55 that is held within a groove 52a in the counterbore 48.

The valve insert 62 is normally held in engagement with the upper end portion or valve seat forming part 63 of the pintle 51 by a compression spring or resilient means 64 that is effectively anchored at its upper end by the sealing nut 52. In its normal position, the valve insert 62 prevents flow into the flow passageway 51a.

Actuation of the flow path interrupting means 60 is controlled by means responsive only to proper positioning of the pintle 51 in the bottle flow fitting B As hereinafter explained the control means performs its operation by sensing the position of the outwa-rdmost edge or lip of the fitting B The upper end of the actuating linkage 65 is threaded to receive a lock nut stop member 66 having a downwardly narrowed or tapered portion 67. A top disc or floating valve actuating plate 68 surrounds the valve stem 65 and is normally spaced downwardly from the stop member 66. The tapered portion 67 of the stop member 66 and the spacing between the stop member 66 and the actuating plate 68 permit a degree of nonuniform or tilting movement of the actuating plate 68 without operative engagement of the stop member 66.

A floating ring shaped bottle flow-fitting sensing plate or feeler member 69 is generally coaxial with and loosely supported on the pintle 51 and within the shield 44 by a washer 56 and spring clip 57 that is retained in a circumferential groove 510. A plurality (preferably three) of transfer pins or rods 58 having rounded or spherical end portions are mounted within vertical bores 49 of the casing 40 to transfer force from the feeler member 66 to the actuating plate 68. It will be seen by the dotted line showing in FIGURE 3 that tilting movement of the feeler member 69 will be transferred to the valve actuating plate 68 without disturbance of the stop member 66 and the valve means 60 to which it is attached. Only when the feeler member 69 is unifo-rmily engaged as by the bottle flow-line fitting B will the actuation plate 68 move upwardly, engage the stop member 66, and raise the valve seat insert 62 from the upper end 63 of the pintle 51 as shown in FIGURE 3 to permit the outflow of pressurized liquid therethrough. In this way the accurate discrimination is made between a true signal, calling for valve operation to fill a bottle, and a false signal as might be caused by accidental engagement by some object other than the uniform level lip of a pressure bottle flow fitting.

In operation the illustrated device is employed as follows:

A refillable type pressure bottle B as hereinbefore described is provided to be filled. Such pres-sure bottles include a combination bleeder-safety valve B; which is loosened to permit escape of air therefrom. The bottle B is placed in the indentation 13 of the base 11 and the handle 24 is moved downwardly to bring the filling head H int-o operative conjunction with the bottle flow-fitting B As the filling head H moves downwardly, some minute adjustment may be made in the positioning of the bottle B to insure that the pintle 51 moves directly into the flow-line fitting B and into engagement with the bicycle type valve B Just as the bicycle valve B is actuated, the uppermost edge or lip of the bottle flow fitting B will uniformly engage the feeler member 69 to simultaneously move the transfer rods 58 upwardly. The actuation plate 63 will follow the movement of the feeler plate 69 and quickly engage the lower end of the stop stop member 66 to transfer vertical motion to the Valve body 61. The valve will thereupon open permitting the flow of liquid into the pintle flow passage 51a and fro-m there into the bottle B. The filling continues so long as the lever 24 is held in its down position. When the bottle B is approximately full of liquid, a small amount of liquid wili emerge from the bleeder valve due to the conventional construction of the pressure bottle. At this point the lever 24- is released permitting the filling head H to move upwardly under the influence of the spring 15. The feeler plate 69 is automatically released and the compression spring 64 returns the valve body 61 to the closed position. The valve B is tightened and the thus filled pressure bottle B is ready for reuse.

From the foregoing description of my inventive concepts and an illustrative embodiment of those concepts it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that I have devised new and extremely useful pressure bottle charging apparatus. It will further be appreciated that the charging apparatus of this invention is quick and safe to use due to its unique construction and that improper use, whether through ignorance or improper motives, is made nearly impossible.

While a preferred embodiment of my invention has been shown herein for purposes of illustration, it is to be understood that the various changes may be made in this construction by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and disclosed concepts of the invention as particularly pointed out and defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for filling pressure bottles and the like of the type having a self-contained, normally closed, force actuated valve mounted centrally of an outwardly extending flow-line fitting from a bulk source of supply material, a filling head comprising: an elongated hollow pentle for operatively engaging a normally closed bottle valve and defining a flow passageway thereinto, means defining a flow path between the bulk supply source and said flow passageway, means for selectively interrupting said flow path to prevent the outfiow of supply liquid through said pintle, and control means, responsive to the proper positioning of said pintle in a pressure bottle, for actuating said flow path interrupting means from an interrupting position to a non-interrupting position and responsive to disengagement of said pintle from a pressure bottle for actuating said interrupting means back to a flow path interrupting position; said control means including a feeler that is generally coaxial with and is flexibly-positioned with respect to said pintle and is adapted to align with an upper edge of a bottle flow fitting when said pintle is in proper filling engagement with the bottle valve.

2. In apparatus for filling pressure bottles and the like of the type having a self-contained, normally closed, force actuated valve mounted centrally of an outwardly extending flow-line fitting from a bulk source of supply material, a filling head comprising: an elongated hollow pintle for operatively engaging a normally closed bottle valve and defining a flow passageway thereinto, means defining a flow path between the bulk supply source and said flow passageway, means for selectively interrupting said flow path to prevent the outflow of supply liquid through said pintle, said flow path interrupting means comprising,'a valve member mounted for rectilinear movement to and from a position of operative engagement with a valve seat, resilient means urging said valve member toward its position of engagement with said valve seat, and control means, having a feeler member that is generally coaxial with said pintle for uniformly sensingly receiving the pressure bottle fitting only when said pintle is in proper filling engagement with the bottle valve, for actuating said flow path interrupting means from an interrupting position to a non-interrupting position and sensitive to disengagement of said bottle flow-line fitting from said feeler member for actuating said interrupting means back to a flow path interrupting position.

3. In apparatus for filling pressure bottles and the like of the type having a self-contained, normally closed, force actuated valve mounted centrally of an outwardly extending flow-line fitting from a bulk source of supply material, a filling head comprising: an elongated hollow pintle for operatively engaging a normally closed bottle valve and defining a flow passageway thereinto, means defining a flow path between the bulk supply source and said flow passageway, means for selectively interrupting said flow path to prevent the outflow of supply liquid through said pintle, and control means for actuating said flow path interrupting means comprising: a floating feeler member positioned symmetrically to said pintle so as to to uniformly receive the uppermost edge of a bottle flow fitting only when said pintle is in proper filling engagement with the bottle valve, a floating valve actuation plate operatively connected to said valve member for causing movement thereof to a flow permitting position upon uniform displacement of said actuation plate, and means for transferring both uniform and non-uniform movement of said feeler member to said actuation plate.

4. Apparatus for filling pressure bottles and the like of the type having a self-contained, normally closed, force actuated valve mounted centrally of an outwardly extending flow-line fitting from a bulk source of supply material, said filling apparatus comprising: a filling head having an elongated hollow pintle for operatively engaging a normally closed bottle valve and defining a flow passageway thereinto, means defining a flow path between the bulk supply source and said flow passageway, means for selectively interrupting said flow path to prevent the outflow of supply liquid through said pintle, control mean-s, having a feeler member, sensitive to engagement of said feeler member by said bottle flow-line fitting, for actuating said flow path interrupting means from an interrupting position to a non-interrupting position and sensitive to disengagement of said bottle flow-line fitting from said feeler member for actuating said interrupting means back to a flow path interrupting position, and means for holding a pressure bottle to be filled in tight cooperative engagement with said pintle.

5. Apparatus for filling pressure bottles and the like of the type having a self-contained, normally closed, force actuated valve mounted centrally of an outwardly extending flow-line fitting from a bulk source of supply material, said filling apparatus comprising: a filling head having an elongated hollow pintle for operatively engaging a normally closed bottle valve and defining a flow passageway thereinto, means defining a flow path between the bulk supply source and said flow passageway, means for selectively interrupting said flow path to prevent the outflow of supply liquid through said pintle, said flow path interrupting means comprising, a valve member mounted for rectilinear movement to and from a position of operative engagement with a valve seat, resilient means urging said valve member toward its position of engagement with said valve seat, control means, having a feeler member, sensitive to engagement of said feeler member by said bottle flow-line fitting, for actuating said flow path interrupting means for an interrupting position to a non-interrupting position and sensitive to disengagement of said bottle flow-line fitting from said feeler member for actuating said interrupting means back to a flow path interrupting position, and means for holding a pressure bottle to be filled in tight cooperative engagement with said pintle.

6. Apparatus for filling pressure bottles and the like of the type having a self-contained, normally closed force actuated valve mounted centrally of an outwardly extending flow-line fitting from a bulk source of supply material, said filling apparatus comprising: an elongated hollow pintle for operatively engaging a normally closed bottle valve and defining a flow passageway thereinto, means defining a flow path between the bulk supply source and said flow passageway, means for selectively interrupting said flow path to prevent the outflow of supply liquid through said pintle, and control means for actuating said flow path interrupting means comprising: a floating feeler member positioned symmetrically to said pintle so as to receive the uppermost edge of a bottle flow fitting only where said pintle is in proper filling engagement with the bottle valve, a floating valve actuation plate operatively connected to said valve member for causing movement thereof to a flow permitting positon upon uniform displacement of said actuation plate, and means for transferring both uniform and non-uniform movement of said feeler member to said actuation plate.

7. Apparatus for filling pressure bottles and the like of the type having a self-contained, normally closed, force actuated valve mounted centrally of an outwardly extending flow-line fitting from a bulk source of supply material, said filling apparatus comprising: a base for supporting a bottle to be filled, a filling head and means operatively connected to said base for causing relative rectilinear movement between the bottle and said filling head to bring said filling head into operative fluid engage ment with the bottle, said filling head comprising: a casing, an elongated pintle securely connected to said casing for engaging the bottle valve, a flow passageway in said pintle, a fluid inlet formed in said casing for receiving a supply of filling fluid under pressure, a valve chamber in fluid communication with said fluid inlet and said flow passageway, a valve member actuatable by movement parallel to the relative movement of the bottle and said filling head for normally preventing flow of fluid under pressure into said flow passageway, a bottle fitting feeler member mounted within said filling head for engagement by the bottle flow-line fitting when said pintle is in proper filling engagement with the bottle valve, a plurality of transfer pins slidably mounted in said casing, a valve actuation plate connected operatively to said transfer pins for receiving motion from said feeler member therethrough, a valve stem securely connected to said valve member and having a stop member securely aflixed thereto, said stop member being normally spaced from, but engageable by, said valve actuation plate; whereby operation of said relative movement causing means brings said pintle into operative engagement with the bottle valve and further brings the bottle flow fitting into uniform contact with said feeler plate to uniformly displace said transfer pins, said valve actuation plate and said valve stem, to move said valve member from its normally closed position to an open position.

8. Apparatus for filling pressure bottles and the like of the type having a self-contained, normally closed, force actuated valve mounted centrally of an outwardly extending flow-line fitting from a bulk source of supply material, said filling apparatus comprising: a base for supporting a bottle to be filled, a filling head and means operatively connected to said base for causing relative rectilinear movement between the bottle and said filling head to bring said filling head into operative fluid engagement with the bottle, said filling head comprising: a casing, an elongated pintle securely connected to said casing for engaging the bottle valve, a flow passageway in said pintle and terminating at the outermost end of said pintle in a flow restriction, a fluid inlet formed in said casing for receiving a supply of filling fluid under pressure, a valve chamber in fluid communication with said fluid inlet and said flow passageway, a valve member actuatable by movement parallel to the relative movement of the bottle and said filling head for normally preventing flow of fluid under pressure into said flow passageway, a bottle fitting feeler member mounted within said filling head for engagement by the bottle flow-line fitting when said pintle is in proper filling engagement with the bottle valve, at least three transfer pins slidably mounted in said casing and connected operatively to said feeler member such that a limited degree of rotative movement with respect thereto is permitted, a valve actuation plate connected operatively to said transfer pins such that a limited degree of rotative movement with respect thereto is permitted, a valve stem securely connected to said valve member and having a stop member securely aflixed thereto, said stop member being normally spaced from, but engageable by, said valve actuation plate; whereby operation of said relative movement causing means brings said pintle into operative engagement with the bottle valve and further brings the bottle flow fitting into uniform contact with said feeler plate to uniformly displace said transfer pins, said valve actuation plate and said valve stem, to move said valve member from its normally closed position to an open position.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 8 further comprising resilient means operatively connected to said valve member for urging said valve member to a normal flowpreventing position.

10. Apparatus as defined in claim 8 wherein said stop member is tapered inwardly toward said valve actuation plate.

11. Apparatus for filling pressure bottles and the like of the type having a self-contained, normally closed, force actuated valve mounted centrally of an outwardlyextending flow-line fitting from a bulk source of supply material, said filling apparatus comprising: a base for supporting a bottle to be filled, a filling head and means operatively connected to said base for causing relative rectilinear movement between the bottle and said filling head to bring said filling head into operative fluid engagement with the bottle, said filling head comprising: a casing, a bottle flow-fitting bore formed in said casing, an elongated pintle securely mounted within said bottle fitting bore and connected to said casing for engaging a normally closed bottle valve, a flow passageway in said pintle and terminatiing at the outermost end of said pintle in a flow restriction, a fluid inlet formed in said casing for receiving a supply of filling fluid under pressure, a valve chamber in fluid communication with said fluid inlet and said flow passageway, a valve member actuatable by movement parallel to the relative movement of the bottle and said filling head for normally preventing flow of fluid under pressure into said flow passageway, a bottle fitting feeler member mounted within said bottle flow-line fitting bore for engagement by the bottle flow-line fitting when said pintle is in proper filling engagement with the bottle valve, at least three transfer pins slidably mounted in said casing and connected operatively to said feeler member such that a limited degree of rotative movement with respect thereto is permitted, a valve actuation plate connected operatively to said transfer pins such that a limited degree of rotative movement with respect thereto is permitted, a valve stem securely connected to said valve member and having a stop member securely affixed thereto, said stop member being normally spaced from, but engageable by, said valve actuation plate; whereby operation of said relative movement causing means brings said pintle into operative engagement with the bottle valve and further brings the bottle flow fitting into uniform contact with said feeler plate to uniformly displace said transfer pins, said valve actuation plate and said valve stem, to move said valve member from its normally closed position to an open position.

12. Apparatus for filling pressure bottles and the like of the type having a self-contained, normally closed, force actuated valve mounted centrally of an outwardly extending flow-line fitting from a bulk source of supply material, said filling apparatus comprising: a base for supporting a bottle to be filled, a filling head, means operatively connected to said base for rectilinearly-movably supporting said filling head, and means for actuating said filling head support means to bring said filling head into operatively filling engagement with the bottle, said filling head comprising: a casing, an elongated pintle securely connected to said casing for engaging the bottle valve, a flow passageway in said pintle and terminating at the outermost end of said pintle in a flow restriction, a fluid inlet formed in said casing for receiving a supply of filling fluid under pressure, a valve chamber in fluid communication with said fluid inlet and said flow passageway, a valve member actuatable by movement parallel to the movement of said filling head for normally preventing flow of fluid under pressure into said flow passageway, a bottle fitting feeler member mounted within said filling head for engagement by the bottle flow-line fitting when said pintle is in proper filling engagement with the bottle valve, at least three transfer pins slidably mounted in said casing and connected operatively to said feeler member such that a limited degree of rotative movement with respect thereto is permitted, a valve actuation plate connected operatively to said transfer pins such that a limited degree of rotative movement with respect thereto is permitted, a valve stem securely connected to said valve member and having a stop member securely affixed thereto, said stop member being normally spaced from, but engageable by said valve actuation plate; whereby operation of said filling head moving means brings said pintle into operative engagement with the bottle valve and further brings the bottle flow fitting into uniform contact with said feeler plate to uniformly displace said transfer pins, said valve actuation plate and said valve stem, to move said valve member from its normally closed position to an open position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,485,006 10/1949 Main et a1. 137614.03 2,519,115 8/1950 Costakos 14l362 X 2,689,138 9/1954 Scheiwer 1376l4,03 2,962,040 11/1960 Simmons 251-340 X FOREIGN PATENTS 220,162 8/1924 Great Britain.

LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner.

H. BELL, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN APPARATUS FOR FILLING PRESSUR BOTTLES AND THE LIKE OF THE TYPE HAVING A SELF-CONTAINED, NORMALLY CLOSED, FORCE ACTUATED VALVE MOUNTED CENTRALLY OF AN OUTWARDLY EXTENDING FLOW-LINE FITTING FROM A BULK SOURCE OF SUPPLY MATERIAL, A FILLING HEAD COMPRISING: AN ELONGATED HOLLOW PENTLE FOR OPERATIVELY ENGAGING A NORMALLY CLOSED BOTTLE VALVE AND DEFINING A FLOW PASSAGEWAY THEREINTO, MEANS DEFINING A FLOW PATH BETWEEN THE BULK SUPPLY SOURCE AND SAID FLOW PASSAGEWAY, MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY INTERRUPTING SAID FLOW PATH TO PREVENT THE OUTFLOW OF SUPPLY LIQUID THROUGH SAID PINTLE, AND CONTROL MEANS, RESPONSIVE TO THE PROPER POSITIONING OF SAID PINTLE IN A PRESSURE BOTTLE, FOR ACTUATING SAID FLOW PATH INTERRUPTING MEANS FROM AN INTERRUPTING POSITION TO A NON-INTERRUPTING POSITION AND RESPONSIVE TO DISENGAGEMENT OF SAID PINTLE FROM A PRESSURE BOTTLE FOR ACTUATING SAID INTERRUPTING MEANS BACK TO A FLOW PATH INTERRUPTING POSITION; SAID CONTROL MEANS INCLUDING A FEELER THAT IS GENERALLY COAXIAL WITH AND IS FLEXIBLY-POSITIONED WITH RESPECT TO SAID PINTLE AND IS ADAPTED TO ALIGN WITH AN UPPER EDGE OF A BOTTLE FLOW FITTING WHEN SAID PINTLE IS IN PROPER FILLING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE BOTTLE VALVE. 